Timothy Ray Brown

Timothy Ray Brown (born 1966) is an American considered to be the first person cured of HIV/AIDS.[1][2] Brown was diagnosed with HIV in 1995 while studying in Berlin, Germany, giving him the nickname The Berlin Patient.[3]

Procedure

In 2007, Brown, who was HIV positive, underwent a procedure known as hematopoietic stem cell transplantation performed by a team of doctors in Berlin, Germany, including Gero Hütter, while undergoing a stem cell transplant for leukemia.[4] From 60 matching donors, they selected a [CCR5]-Δ32 homozygous individual with two genetic copies of a rare variant of a cell surface receptor. This genetic trait confers resistance to HIV infection by blocking attachment of HIV to the cell. Roughly 10% of people of European ancestry have this inherited mutation, but it is rarer in other populations.[5][6] The transplant was repeated a year later after a relapse. Over three years after the initial transplant and despite discontinuing antiretroviral therapy, researchers cannot detect HIV in the transplant recipient's blood or in various biopsies.[7] Levels of HIV-specific antibodies have also declined, leading to speculation that the patient may have been functionally cured of HIV. However, scientists emphasise that this is an unusual case.[8] Potentially fatal transplant complications (the "Berlin patient" suffered from graft-versus-host disease and leukoencephalopathy) mean that the procedure could not be performed in others with HIV, even if sufficient numbers of suitable donors were found.[9][10]

In 2012, Daniel Kuritzkes reported results of two stem cell transplants in patients with HIV. They did not, however, use donors with the Δ32 deletion. After their transplant procedures, both were put on antiretroviral therapies, during which neither showed traces of HIV in their blood plasma and purified CD4 T cells using a sensitive culture method (less than 3 copies/mL). However, the virus was once again detected in both patients some time after the discontinuation of therapy.[11]

Timothy Ray Brown Foundation

In July 2012, Brown announced the formation of the Timothy Ray Brown Foundation in Washington, DC, a foundation dedicated to fighting HIV/AIDS.[12]

Personal Life

Brown has been openly gay since high school.[13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "ADULT Stem Cell Transplant Cures HIV-Positive Man, Say Docs". Fox Nation. Retrieved 2015-01-20.
  2. ↑ Trudy Ring (2012-09-07). "Is Anyone Immune to HIV?". HIVPlusMag. Retrieved 2015-01-20.
  3. ↑ Andre Picard (2012-07-24). "Meet the man who was cured of HIV". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2015-11-20. Mr. Brown, an American from Seattle, was attending school in Berlin in 1995 when he tested positive for HIV.
  4. ↑ "German HIV patient cured after stem cell transplant". Belfast Telegraph. 15 December 2010. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  5. ↑ "Bone marrow 'cures HIV patient'". BBC News. 13 November 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-02.
  6. ↑ Novembre, J; Galvani, AP; Slatkin, M (2005). "The Geographic Spread of the CCR5 Δ32 HIV-Resistance Allele". PLoS Biology 3 (11): e339. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0030339.
  7. ↑ Allers, K.; Hutter, G.; Hofmann, J.; Loddenkemper, C.; Rieger, K.; Thiel, E.; Schneider, T. (2010). "Evidence for the cure of HIV infection by CCR5 32/ 32 stem cell transplantation". Blood 117 (10): 2791–2799. doi:10.1182/blood-2010-09-309591. PMID 21148083.
  8. ↑ http://www.aidsmeds.com/articles/hiv_aids_stemcell_2042_14199.shtml
  9. ↑ Levy JA (2009). "Not an HIV Cure, but Encouraging New Directions". N Engl J Med 360 (7): 724–725. doi:10.1056/NEJMe0810248. PMID 19213687. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
  10. ↑ Lunzen, J.; Fehse, B.; Hauber, J. (2011). "Gene Therapy Strategies: Can We Eradicate HIV?". Current HIV/AIDS Reports 8 (2): 78–84. doi:10.1007/s11904-011-0073-9. PMID 21331536.
  11. ↑ "HIV returns in two Boston patients after bone marrow transplants - CNN.com". CNN. 9 December 2013.
  12. ↑ "Man "cured" of AIDS: Timothy Ray Brown". CBSNews. Retrieved 2015-01-20.
  13. ↑ fredhutch.org
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